Centrifugal mount



Aug. 17 1926'. l R. A. STEPS CENTRIFUGAL MOUNT Fned April '24, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 m T .N n m lill R. A.1 STEPS CENTRIFUGAL MOUNT Filed April 24, 19,23 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 @mw d y wlw Patented ug. 17, 1926.

UNITED STATE-s autres elementari Sres-S., 0F Les. wenn, GALIFQRNIA i samenwer@ MQUNT- Of the centrifugal machines operating'today in sugar factories, and other vkinds of factories, by far the greater nuinber are' of one standard type. l

5 These machines are characterized by hav? Ill ing an inner non-rotatingspindle oscillatively'supporte'd roin above; and an outer rotating spindle having a driving pulley and a centrifugal b'aslietconnected with said roe tatable spindle respectively near the ripper and lower end ot same. y

The outer ijot'atincr s indle and connected i, za l parts are supported by the inner non-rotating oscillatory spindleby means of a long babbittY or bronze bearing sleeve adapted to i carry'the belt lthrust vand located near the upper end of the rotatable spindle, and also by in'eanso' a. isuppleinentarfl.Y bearing and a series of fri tion' discs adapted to carry the `weight ofthe rotatingfsp'indle and located substantially below the lirst said bearing i Y i Owing Yto the continuous vibrations or gyrations of the' rotating operation7 which gyrations' are permitted by theaforesaid oscillatory inounting of the inner supporting spindle, and which gyrations are continnally and lil'ieely indulged in by the rotating spindle because ol' tlie uii'- uniform loading or" the basket, the service i bearings is 'very severe,-and

breaking down reon the above they are continuously quiiing frequent annoying delays which constitute the principal difficulty which the users :encounter during the`i operation 'of these machines.

Thousands of machines of the above. type are in operation iii the United States tod aiidlor pt iewpurposeoi eliminating reor frequent replacement oi'l the relatively inferior bearings which y y ternipts have been inade to replace these bearings in the existing inaciiiiieswith ball or rollerbearings,v but all these Ipts to thus eliminatev the eitliculty have been unsuccessful because no obvious means suggests itself Afor installing ball or roller'beaiings ol suticient sizein the existinginachines to carry the load `iinposed upon thein. The

largest ball or rollerhearings that vcould he installed in thespaces obviously apparent to the mechanic have often beenvtrie'd, but have always broken down nfi'uch ea lli than' lil/fold becausethle) 'reasonis progressing onlyv slowly.

spindle n dur-ing Y `effectiveness of the new xball or roller ings is so niuch more superior as to inaiiyduring these annoying shut lewiis required y "flatively supported near` they have, inany ,at-l

jca'st iron supporting Application filedl April v2 4, 192.3. Serial No. 634,325.

sinall load ratings, and on thisaccount the eliort to convert 'the existing machines'to the ballY or roller bearingY type'had been ahah! doned.v l u `The frequency with which the y'old type hearings had to be replaced, however, isA so annoying that' many users have" installed totally new centrifugals' arranged originally to carry ball or roller bearings of the re"-Y quiredsine to carry the loads imposed, but the malring of sucli'coinpletely new installa,` tion is obviously expensive 'and for Vthat The invention set Vliorth herein ischaracteri'zed by the fact thatby` simple' but 'ingenious rearrangement and, inodication ofvsonie of the parts in the eiiisting Vseston Centrifugals of the" above type, quantities of room are made available,ab'ovewhatwas previously possible',fso that good serviceabltle ball or Yrollerbearings'of tar greater load capacity than required, loan bebeasily iii stalled, and'tlierei'ore'by the application of this invention to the eiiisting machines the annoying replacementsof theold type'bear-v ings canbe' practically elinii'nated, as the bearL tiines outlast theold type bearings.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention. v

Figure l is an elevation in section showing 1 one form of the invention asapplied to the so-callled long spindle centrifugals.

Figure 2 is a similar vieu7 showing the saine form olf the'invention applied to the soTcalled short spindle centritugals.- f Figure 3 is a siinilar view showing another orin of the linvention as applied'in practice.

rllhe inner non-rotating spindle l is oscilsome suitable mounting which lor'purposes oit illustration I have shown as comprising a ball and socket joint 2 carried in aheavy bracket '3 which firmly fastened to vsorne other 'stationary supporting member above.

Uf course, thereare many other ways of oscillativelyV supporting the Sinner 'spindle but I have shown the ball and socliet oint because itis well known in practice.

The outergrotating spindle leiten consists loraunitary'in'embclir as shown inthe long yspindle construction in Figure l, but sornetinies consists there than one nieinl n its oppci'- end by ber as for instance the upper section (a) and the lower section in the short spindle construction shown in Figure 2, these sections, however, being bolted togetheriand rotating and operating as a unit together.

Near the upper end of the said rotating spindle the latter is connected with some suitable driving means, which in the figures l have illustrated as a belt pulley having the usual rim portion G, also a transverse driving' portion comprising the web or spokes 7 and a depending hub portion 8 directly connected to the outer rotatable spindle 4. y

In the cases where this invention is applied to the existing machines, the eXtreme upper end of the outer rotating spindle is cut short to about the amount shown in the figures, and at a point somewhatY above this a downwardly facing shoulder 8 is formed on the inner spindle either by turning the latter to a smaller diameter below this shoulder, or by fastening-a piece 9 onto the inner spindle, this piece being of large diameter than the portion of the inner spindle below said downwardly facing shoulder for the purpose of giving the same shoulder effect as is shown at 8.

At an elevation approximately between this shoulder and the upper extremity of the outer rotating spindle I have arranged an internally open cylindrical portion 10 projecting above the hub and transverse pulley portion 7.

lt is within the open space formed by this internally open cylindrical portion 10 that I carry the bearing that supports the thrust of belt 11 which pulls the pulley sideways. This bearing consists of an inner race 12, an outer race 13, and a seiies of rolling members 14E between said races. As shown in Figure 1 these rolling members may be balls as in ball bearings, or they may be rollers as shown in the roller bearing `in Figure 3.

For obvious reasons the said outer rotatable spindle 4, the pulley 5 and the internally open cylindrical portion 10 are fastened so as to rotate with each other, and though this fastening may be accomplished in several different ways l have shown it in the form of bolts 15 which happen to connect the member 10 directly with the transverse pulley portion 7.

For the purpose of making this connection more secure I have bored a recess 1G into the upper face of the hub and trans verse pulley portion, and into this recess the depending neclr 17, on the cylindrical member 10, lits accurately, the packing material 18 being securely held between the bottom of this neck and the bottomV of the rel cess for the purpose Iof prevent-ing the escape of lubricant in case the pulley hub is a split hub.

Of course, the general shape of the member on which the internally open cylindrical portion 10 is formed, may be variously' fashioned, and may be fastened to rotate with the rest of the structureV in various ways, as its only real function is to afford a thrust support for transmitting the belt pull to the bearing at a point between the downwardly facing shoulder 8 on the inner spindle and the upper extremity of the rotating spindle as shown. However, one con-v venientV form of carrying this internally open cylindrical member 10 is to forni it integrally with the lubricant reservoir 19 as siiown in the figure. Any lubricant alaced in this reservoir 19 will directly feed the upper bearing, and will freely pass through saine down through. the space` between the outer and inner spindle to feed the bearing located below.

This last mentioned bearing 2O is located at a point substantially below the first said bearing, and the purpose of this bearing 20 is principally to carry the weight of the rotating spindle and its connected parts.

ln the so-called long-spindle construction.

shown in Figure 1 l have found or created sufficient room for a bearing of proper size by boring the central cylindrical recess 21 upward from the bottom of the rotatable spindle 4t into the substantially conical portion 22 of the spindle located at this point. In the form of the invention which I prefer this lower bearing 20 consists'of a race 23 adapted to rotate with the rotatable spindle parts and a race 2e adapted to be supported by the inner non-rotating spindle, and a series of rolling members 25, which may consist either of balls or rollers between said races.

- The particular form in which l have shown the lower bearing 2O is known as a combination thrust and radial bearing, but any other suitable form of ball Yor kroller lee bearings adapted to performA the required service may of course be substituted in the space which this invention produces for this purpose.

Though it is not always necessary to faeten or lock the respective races to the parts with which they lit, yet it is advisable to do so, and the arrangement which l hav achieved lends itself nicely to euch locking or fastening of the races.

In Figure 1 the inner race 12 per bearing is forced and locked against the downwardly facing shoulder S on the inner spindle by means of the spacing' men ber 26 which receives its locking thrust from thel nut and lock nut 27 and 28 respectively, located at the lower end of the inner spindle and forcing upward through members 29, 30, 24 and 31 onto the spacing member 26, in an obvious manner.

Figure 2 shows substantially the same structure for forcing and locking the inner of the upi fee nascose race 12 ot the upper hearings, up against the downwardly facing shoulder 8,. on the inner non-rotating spindle.

.In Figure 3, however, a `modified form is shown consisting ot nut 32 and 100k nut 33 running on screw threads formed on the inner spindle adjacent to these nuts.

In this `ornfV'I prefer to fasten the race 24: of the lower bearingbetween the spacing members 34 and 3:3 which are clamped to: gether by the combined action between nuts 27 and 28 .at the-lower end of the spindle and the downwardly facing shoulder .36 termed on this spindle `immediately above the spacing member 3l.

This torm has the advantage ofleaving the outer rotating spindle stronger than the form shownin Figure l, as the spindle neednot then be bored out for allowing room and clearance for inserting the spacing member 26 shown in Figure l. l

The arrangement shown in Figure l has the advantage however that the upper race can be locked in place at the same time that the race 2st is locked, so. that'by firmly fastening the nuts 27 and 2,8 the operator may be certain that the entire-system including the lupperand lower bear-ings .are tightin plac A further feature which will be observed is the tact that, both the upper` and lower bearings are installed on the inner spindle by slipping them upward over the lower end oit theinner spindle to their respective oper-ating positions on the spindle. The upper bearing is of course so installed at a time when the inner spindle is removed from the'outer spindle. l Y

' Though the tastes of various builders and users vary, I lconsider it advisable to give a good hand pressfit between the outer race 13 of the upper bearing and thecylindrical portion lOthat receives it,'so that this race will be: more or less free to slip up' or down in this cylindrical portion 'l0 and thus avoid carrying any substantial portion of the weight or thrust load of th-e rotating spindle, and yet thisjtit should not be so 'loose .as to permit the race 13 and the' portion lO to rotate with reference to eaclfiA o-ther, and for this purpose a pin may b e arranged to prevent this relative rotationrof the race without preventing 'the slippage ofsame either upward orV downward. The same lrind of atit -is desirable for race 23 in recess 2,1'. l#Vith attention to this question, and also attention to accurately forming and facing the various shoulders 'and-spacing members that combine to hol-d the races, anV extremely good and serviceable arrangement results,

- and since the bearings themselves are ground accurately to alew ten-thousands of an inch, and then hardened, the enti-re arrangement is nfound to be se serviceable that the troublesome and frequent annoyaneeso'f having' to f inga centering post a3 fitting replace the old type bearings now operating in the existing machines, is reduced so much as to be eliminated for all practical intents and purposes.

1n a manner usual centrifugal basket 3,7 is connected with the lower end o the rotating .spindle by means of a vbottom basket spider 33 having the spider arms 39. and spiderhub e0. r`his spider hub Vhas a central centering aperture l1 bored therein, the purpose of which is to give the 4spider and basket a centralizing alignment 'with reference to the axis of the rotzfiting spindle, as this is important for purposes otbalanee. t

In the long-spindle construction "shown in Figures l and 3, I insert a' separate cene tralizing member l2 between the bearing 20 and the recess in which it is carried,"and the spider hub 4G, this separate member havnicely in the centering aperture el of the spider hub to give it alignment, and this member alsohavf ingka centralizing engagement ot its own with ythe bottom substantially'y conically shaped portion of the rotating spindle 4.

In Figure l this centralizing member l2 receives its centering` engagement with Ythe rotating spindle byv means oiC the noch or shoulder del projecting upward from iiange 45 `and fitting accurately into the recess 2l,

the said member being fastened to the lower external c'onically shaped portion of the ro, tating spindle by the samer bolts t6 that fasten the spider to the spindle, a thin gas het being inserted between the flange l5 iand thev bottom of the 'spindle 'for the purpose oipreventingV lealrageot the lubricant. f

In Figure 3,however, the form of this centering member is slightly varied, yand shows same as' screwed into the recess 2l by means 'of the screw threads et?. In this structure the member may be screwed tight against the bottoni of race 23 or the pur-l pose of fastening it inplace, and a gasket between this race and the top ot' member 4t2 may be inserted or not as suits theA taste oir' the builder. course, additional modifications inthe shape of this centeringmember can be arranged, but v t-he vtwo forms 'shown are deemed' suliicient to illustrate its application. f

It will also be Yunderstood by those fan'iiliar with the art` that the oscillations the mechanism about the oscillatory sup.-

y port 2are dampened by means y'of a rubber bumperft, but notwithstanding the gyrations are 'st-ill considerable and continually present during opera-tion of the centrifugal. On this ac'count vlike to arrange the lower bearing'orcarrying'the weight or thrust of the rotating spindle, as' far-'below the oscillatory support as the structure will permit, because in this location the loadv remains more evenlydistributed over 'theballs or lthat is well understoodthe f Wei lll() rollers and the slapping or hammering action which the gyrating motion creates is reduced to a minimum. This results in somewhat longer lite tor the rolling members, than ii same were located near the oscillatory mounting. v

In speaking ot' the inner spindle as being non-rotatable. .it will be understood t-hat this term is relative only with reference to the outer rotatable spindle, the weight ot the inner' spindle, together' with the weight ot the parts which it carries, and the compresisive action ot the bumper t8 being' usually sutiicient to hold the inner spindle against rotation.J but if same should creep or rotate around slowlvn this is so slight as to be ligible, and or all practical purposes the inner spindle may be regarded as non-rotatable, this slight creepage notwithstanding.

Also in describing and claiming` this iii-- vention the word balls or the word rollery or rolling members, are used interchangeablyand each is hereby made to specilically include the other, as the question ot whether balls or rollers are to be used is a mere question of taste to be decided by the builder.

Also, though this invention is particnlarlyr useful and unique in that it ali'or'ds a goed serviceable mode ot converting the innumerable existing machines trom vtheir crude type bearings to this improved 'type et bearing system, without requiring the abandonment of the old spindle par'ts and the substitution of new ones, yet this construction is additionally very serviceable and practicable in connection with the building ot new centritugals, and l also recommend it for that purpose, as many of its `tentures` give benefits and advantages which are not found even in new ball or roller bearing centrifugals as tur'ned out today.

Ol course, the precise parts and arrangements which lf have shown are subject to modilication in various particulars withoutdeparting from the invention as claimed herein.

Claims:

l. ln a centrifugal mount the combination of an inner non-rotatable spindle, ball end socket supporting` means for oscillatively suspending said non-rotatable spindle vertically, an outer rotatable spindle hollow at its upper end and concentrically sur rounding the lower part of said non-rotatable spindle, driving pulley having a transverse driving portion and carrying a bearing receiving portion and a lubricant reservoir concentric therewith and rising from the upper' tace ot' said transverse pulley portion to a place above the bottom ot the socket portion of said ball and socket sup` porting means, a bearing comprising inner and outer races and rolling members between said races, said bearing being located between bearing receiving portion and said inner non-rotatable spindle at a place above the hollow upper end ot said rotatable spindle and immediately below the socket portion ot said ball and socket supporting means, the outside diameter ot the outer race of said bearing being larger than the Outside diameter ot the upper hollow end oic said outer rotatable spindle, the diameter or" said inner non-rotatable spindle .at all places below said bearing being such that the inner race ot said bearing can be drawn oli' over the lower end of said inner spindle during dismantling ot the structure, anda thrust bearing carried by said inner spindle below the first said bearing, said thrust bearing being adapted to carry revolving weight imposedy by said rotatable spindle.

:2. ln a centritugatmount the combination of an inner non-rotatable spindle, ball and soclret supporting means tor oscillatively suspending said non-rotatable spindle vertif cally, an outer rotatable spindle hollowV at its upper end and concentrically surrounding the lower part ot said non-rotatable spindle, a driving pulley having a transverse driving portion directly connected to said rotatable spindle near its upper end, a separate bearing receiving member having a lubricant reservoir concentric therewith said reservoir rising trom the upper face ot said transverse pulley portion to a place abovethe bottom ot the socket portion ot said ball and soclret supporting` means, paclringmeans between said bearing receiving member and said transverse pulley portion for preventing the escape et lubricant from said lubricant reservoir, a bearing comprising inner' and outer races and rollingl members between said races, said bearing being carried between said bearing receiving portion and said inner non-rotatable spindle at a place above the hollow upper end ot said rotatable spindle and immediately below the socket portion of said ball and socket supporting means, the outside diameter' ot' the outer race of said bearing being larger than the outside diameter otthe up Der hollow end ot said outer rotatable spindle, the diameter' or' said inner non-rotatable spindle at all places below said bearing being such that the inner race of said bearing can. be Vdrawn od over the lower endot said inner spindle during dismantling of the structure, and a thrust bearing carried by said inner spindle below the first said bearing, said Vthrust bearing being' adapted to carry revolving weight imposed by said rotatable spindle,

` 3. ln a centrifugal mount the combination of4 an inner non-rotatable spindle, ball. and socket supporting means for oscillatively suspending said non-rotatable spindle vertically, an outer rotatable spindle hollow at its upper end and coneentrieally surround-V er part ol said non-rotatable ,uns pulley baring a transverse lll!) driving portion, a separate lubricant reservoir member concentric with both said spindles and extending` upward to a place above said transverse pulley portion and above the bottom ot the socket portion oty said ball and socket supporting means, said lubricant reservoir having an internally open cylindrical bearing receiving portion immediately below 'sait socket portion ot said ball and socket supporting means and above the top hollow end ot said outer revolving spindle, the inside diameter ot said bearing receiving portion being larger than the outside diameter of the top hollow end ot said outer rotatable spindie, a bearing comprising inner and outer races and rolling members between said races, said bearing being carried in said bearing receiving portion of said lubricant reservoir immediately below the socket portion ot said ball and socket supporting means, the diameter ot said inner spindle at all places below said bearing being such that the inner race of said bearing can be drawn ott over the lower end of said spindle during dismantling of the structure, and a thrust bearing carried by said inner spindle below the irst said bearing, said thrust bearing being adapted to carry revolving weight imposed by said rotatable spindle.

et. In a centrifugal mount the combination of an inner non-rotatable spindle having a downwardly facing shoulder, ball and socket supporting means Jfor oscillatively suspending said non-rotatable spindle at a place immediately above said shoulder, an outer rotatable spindle hollow at its upper end and concentrically surrounding` the lower part ot said non-rotatable spindle, driving meanshaving a transverse driving portion directly connected with said outer rotatable spindle, a bearing receiving portion extending above said transverse pulley portion and located immediately below the socket portion ot said ball and socket supporting means, a lubricant reservoir concentricwith saidv bearing receiving portion and extending upward above saine to a place above the bottom oi the socket portion of said ball and socket supporting means, a bearing in said bearing receiving portion, said bearing being carried by said inner non-rotatable spindle at a place immediately below said downwardly facing shoulder and above the top hollow end of said revolving spindle, a thrust bearing also carried by said inner non-rotatable spindleV but at a place below the lirst said bearing, both said bearings comprising inner races and outer races', and rolling members between said races, and means for simultaneously locking the inner races of both said bearings against rotation, said means comprising nut threaded onto the lower end of said inner non-rotatable spindle, and a spacing tube embracing said non-rotatable spindle in the space between said bearings.

Signed at Denver, in the county ot Denver, and State of Colorado, this th day ot April, 1928.

ROBERT ALEXANDER STEPS; 

